The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-08-20
THE ROYAL CASTE.
AN ARlSTOCRACY HOLDING Posi-
TON FAR ABOVE NOBILITY.

The Precedence Of It's Members Accom-
panied by the s!zvIsh Respect Once
Paid Also to the Nobles-A Curious
Mark Of Grade.
A occasion like the jubilee brings ont
very sharply the singular social position
Of the royal caste of Europe. That caste,
| which consists essentially of two families
or clans. all the Catholic and all the Prot
estant royalties being more or less closely
related either by marriage or by blood, Is
growing numerous, and tends to become
n minute but closely knit aristocraey,
claiming. and in certain ways securing,
position greatly above that Of the Euro
pean nobility. The precedence Of ITS
members. besides being uncOntcsted, as
that Of no noble is, is European instead OF
local. and is accompanied, and, ~ 1t were,
marked. by a deferential and even slavish
respect. which was once paid also To the
mobiles. but is now in their case slowly
bnt pcrccptbly dying away. No noble is
now beyond the law, as some OF the
princes AZ least--e. g., the heads OF the
mediatized families Undoubtedly are.
CURIOUS MARK or GRADE.
LISA curious mark of grade but ii Is
n very real one that on the continent OF
Europe n prince Is the only man except n
prir.i who cannot be compelled to accept
a challenge. He has theoretically no equal
/ except i'm his own caste, and even imperi-
Gus military opinion acknowledges his ex-
empton Certain forms too are observed
In receiving and in addressing royalties
which are not maintained for any other
human beings. and they are waited on
even by mobiles as gentlemen would he
ashamed to wait on the members Of any
other class Though, as a rule, not
wealthy, and undstinguished either by
intellectual ability or service TO the states
to which they belong, they are everywhere
treated as "the first, " and maintain, with
out exciting envy, an exclusiyeness as
rigid as that OF Indian Brahmins or pious
Jews They marry only among them
selves; they claim and enforce n special
marriage privilege, which j., in fact,
right to have their recognized cOncubines
acknowledged by society; and though the
fortunes some of them possess are dis
tributed with strange inequality, and
they begin TO be solicitors for wealth yet
they resist with immovable tenacity what
must be the severe temptation to absorb
the great heiresses Of European society.
A ColOnna may marry the daughter Of
the greatest of American money makers,
and the derogation is forgiven for the
gain but the poorest Hohenzollern or
Bourbon may not stoop TO the most beauti-
full or accomplished lady of many millions.
They begin more and more 20 associate
only with each other roaming over
Europe 10 avoid the tedium Of too con
tracted social circle and at all ceremonial
functions they supersede alike the mobiles
and the statesmen. In the arrangements
for the jubilee, for example "the princes,
known and unknown, illustrious and OBJ
scure, were all alike in front, and the
great mobiles and high placed persOnages
Of the realm soldiers or statesmen or
diplomats, were all relegated TO the crowd.
No noble except Lord Lorne appeared iii
the procession as an invited guest and the
exception only made the rule more con
spiCuOus.
ROYALTY EVERYWHERE FIRST.
Courts settle rank in Europe, and the
courts unanimously insist that the de
scendants of royalty, even if dethrOned,
shall count everywhere first. Not only
will the kings not marry, legally at all
events, outside the clan, but they exert a
steady and effective pressure in favor Of
restricting all thrones when vacant TO the
clan alone Nothing can be more absurd
in theory than for a new state like Bel
GUM or Bulgaria, which needs an organ
ling chief, a statesman or a soldier,
10 choose prince who may or may
not be capable Of ruling; but the
statesmen know well that If they step out
side the clan European sympathy will
be forfeited" or, In palmer words, that
the soyereigns who move armies viii
think they are dealing with disagreeable
Upstairs. Bernadotte only kept his
throne at the price Of turning on his own
country-where he is still regarded as
traitor-and King Milan, the only mem
Der OF an obscure family with recognized
crown, will probably lose for want Of the
determined protection that, had he been
born within the caste, would have been
afforded him. That protection was not,
/ it is true, granted 70 Alexander Of Batten-
/ berg; but then, the Battenbergs are hardly
royal, and protection 10 him might have
prcciptated the gravest Of all wars The
moment he was gone, the Bulgarians eX-
amined Europe with microscope TO find
an acceptable prince; but they knew per
fectly well that their choice was re-
strctcd 10 those whom the sOvereigns re-
cOgnize as socially their equals.
1t is that recognition, not birth alone,
which gives the princely caste its unique
and almost inexplicable place in Europe;
and az long as that recognition continues
SO long will that place be maintained. In
other words, the social privilege OF the
prncely caste will probably endure as
/ long rs the great monarchies-a period
which may be ages, or may, IN spite of ap-
pearances, be shortened 10 decades
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